Women’s World Cup: Jamaica deny France to earn ‘historic’ result

A superb defensive display from Jamaica has earned them their first point at a Women’s World Cup after denying France in their opening match.

France are considered by many to be one of the favourites to win the tournament but Jamaica’s disciplined display earned them a point against a team 38 places higher in the Fifa world rankings.

Jamaica manager Lorne Donaldson hailed the result as the best in the country’s history.

“I would say it is the number one result we have had so far,” said Donaldson.

“The number one result, men or women. Just look at the rankings. You would say this result, on this stage, has to be number one.”

Before the result, most expected Group F to be a foregone conclusion with Brazil and France qualifying, but a win against Panama would now give Jamaica a genuine chance of progressing to the knockout stages.

France came close to scoring with Kadidiatou Diani leading the line. She had a shot stopped by Becky Spencer before firing wide.

Diani then struck both the crossbar and post late in the match.

Herve Renard confident despite dropped points

France manager Herve Renard masterminded Saudi Arabia’s win over Argentina at the men’s World Cup last December but was on the wrong end of a shock this time around.

“We deserved to win; they didn’t get any chances,” he said.

“They did their best, played a good game, but [it] was completely different.

“I’ve won competitions after drawing the first games. I don’t think we should be getting ahead of ourselves.

“What’s important is to be solid. We are going to look to find and gain what we came to do.

“I wasn’t satisfied after the first half, but congratulated them after the second. Sometimes in these games you have to be happy with a draw, rather than being ambushed by the other team.”

Khadija Shaw red card dampens Jamaica’s day

The only downside for Jamaica was the sending of captain and top scorer Khadija Shaw. The striker picked up two yellow cards and will miss the match against Panama on Saturday.

Jamaica’s main tactic to alleviate the pressure on their defence was to use Shaw’s presence up front and she would have been key in their hunt for a win over Panama.

For France, getting a result against Brazil on the same day could prove crucial in their quest to qualify for the second round.

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